Northwestern Memorial Hospital v. Ashcroft

Abstract

Court Decision: 362 Federal Reporter, 3d Series 923; 2004 March 26 (date of decision). The U.S. Court of Appeals quashed a Department of Justice subpoena seeking late-term abortion patients' medical records for use in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. The Seventh Circuit found that, as a result of compliance with the subpoena, there would be an invasion of patient privacy even where there was no possibility of learning the patient's identity. Because the federal proceedings would not be significantly impacted by quashing the subpoena, the court held that this intrusion, along with financial harm the hospital would suffer, exceeded the benefit of producing the requested medical records. [KIE/NAMII]